


Still the One

by KateKintail



Series: The Great Beyond [48]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2013-01-29
Packaged: 2017-11-27 09:17:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/660307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KateKintail/pseuds/KateKintail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville and Charlie reunite after many years. Set directly after “Surprise”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still the One

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts: Still the One
> 
> Written for the May Madness story-a-day challenge 2012 on LiveJournal/InsaneJournal

Charlie Weasley felt strange about this. He really should have insisted that he get a room for the night at the pub in Hogsmeade. But Neville was head of Gryffindor House and couldn’t be away from the castle at night. And they honestly just couldn’t wait to know each other in the most intimate of ways again.   
  
Charlie had been nervous all day, not sure Neville would even remember the year they spent together in Romania all those years ago. Charlie had only been away from it for a few months, but already that job felt like another lifetime to him. A lifetime where working with dragons, encouraging their breeding, looking after the younglings, mucking out their stalls, and keeping them safe on the Reservation, seemed like Heaven. But life now, moving in with Harry Potter to take care of him and the kids while his little sister slowly lost the fight to cancer, seemed like some sort of nightmare he couldn’t shake with a false smile.   
  
He’d thought he’d needed this—to reach out to the one man who had genuinely meant something to him, to lose himself in passion, if only for a short while. But now, with his hand in Neville’s as they quietly snuck through the Hogwarts corridors, Charlie wasn’t so sure any more.   
  
There was no sense of relief when Neville closed the door to his chambers. And the flip in his stomach as Neville turned, a hungry, eager grin on his face, wasn’t just an excited twinge at the prospect of sex. When Neville advanced on him, moving in for a snog, Charlie stepped back. “I don’t know if I can do this after all.”  
  
Hurt, Neville took a step back. “But I thought you wanted… back at the pub you said…”  
  
Charlie nodded. “I know what I said then. But now, I’m not so sure.” He sat down on the edge of Neville’s bed, feeling helpless and defeated. He fucking hated feeling helpless. He’d learned early on that if you just worked hard, stayed tough, and threw everything at a task, usually it came out all right in the end. But then they’d lost Fred and so many others and now they’d lost Ginny. No amount of toil could change that.   
  
“All right,” Neville said softly, kindly. But Charlie could see his erection straining in his pants. He drew up a chair and sat down opposite the bed. “It’s been a long time. It’s natural to be a little nervous. We’ve both changed. Maybe we just need to take our time and get to know each other again. Remember that dance back at the Reservation? The one we did as we felt each other out, testing our compatibility before moving into a relationship? We can do that again.” He reached a hand out, palm up and open. “We don’t have to fool around. We can just talk a while.”  
  
Charlie didn’t really want to talk about it either, but he swallowed and nodded because, damn it, he wanted Neville so bad. He reached out and put his hand in Neville’s; Neville squeezed it tightly in reassurance.  
  
It was Neville who began. “I gained a little weight.” He patted his paunch, which was just a slight bulge beneath his loosely-fitting clothes. “I’m not that perfectly toned specimen I was when I worked in Romania.”   
  
With a smile, Charlie replied, “I don’t care about that. I’m a little pudgy in places, too. And I blew my left knee out a couple years ago after a fall from my broomstick. I can still play Quidditch well enough for a pickup game, but I have to be careful when I kneel or put pressure on it for too long.”  
  
Neville’s far-away expression made Charlie suspect the man was mentally paging through the catalog of their favorite sexual positions to see which were now out of the running.   
  
“But that’s not why I—”  
  
“I’ve had some lovers over the years. Not a lot, mind, because c’mon I—” He must have seen Charlie’s narrowed eyes and that expression that said he wouldn’t put up with Neville being self-deprecating. He paused and started again with the clearing of his throat. “Because my work has taken a lot of time and energy.”  
  
Charlie nodded. “Doesn’t matter to me, either, so long as you’re not currently in a committed relationship. And, given the dating service, I guess you’re not. I had some relations as well, but I never found…” it was Charlie’s turn to blush, the back of his neck and his ears blazing red. “I never found your equal.”  
  
Neville just about gave a squeak. He couldn’t bring himself to look Charlie in the face, his eyes travelling around his room as if looking for something that might inspire him to say more.   
  
Luckily, Charlie knew now what he wanted to say. “Neville, it’s not you. It’s this place. I wanted to make love to you more than anything, and I thought it didn’t matter where. But this is Hogwarts. There are hundreds of kids asleep just over there.” He gestured in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. “Not to mention that McGonagall is practically next door. But more importantly, this is where the battle took place. People died here. Fred died here. Died here without really knowing me. I don’t think I could get hard here if my life depended on it.”   
  
When Neville finally met his gaze, there were tears in the younger man’s eyes. “Char… this is my home now. I didn’t think…” He broke off as he got up and settled beside Charlie on the bed. “We don’t have to do a thing tonight.”  
  
“But I wanted to. All these years… and you’re still the one I want—the only one I want.” His voice cracked embarrassingly and the next thing he knew, he was in Neville’s arms, clutching the man tight and hiding the tears against Neville’s shoulder. Neville held him for as long as Charlie wanted, hugging him close, and Charlie couldn’t help but remember how easily their bodies fit together like this. It was just part of that beautiful dance. But then Neville began to chuckle and Charlie pulled back, a bit shocked.   
  
Neville shook his head. “It’s not you. I was just thinking about the Hog’s Head. I love Hannah Abbot. She’s a dear friend and a lot of people expected me to propose to her. She’s sweet, smart, caring, and runs a hell of a pub, but she has the wrong equipment for me. I don’t think that I could have gotten hard under her roof either, though.”  
  
Amusement set in, and Charlie gave a laugh at this. Somehow they wound up toppled over on the bed, hugging, holding, spooning, and not letting go even as they slept.


End file.
